To move away from the capricious ups and downs in chocolate and sugar prices, the company acquired Friendly Ice Cream Corp., a Northeast and Midwest chain of 714 family restaurants and ice cream shops in 1979. Friendly’s now accounts for 22.5% of Hershey sales and 17.2% of operating ...
According to the company's "fun facts" page, their first flavor was a very uninspired vanilla, but other early pints included Oreo Mint, Chocolate Fudge, Wild Blueberry, Mocha Walnut, Maple Walnut, Honey Coffee, and Honey Orange. Today they sell about $860 million worth of ice cream each...